Chapter 97: Reaching Level 10

The next morning, Cloud Mystic rose early. By last night, he had already finished the artificial warrior potion crafted from White of the Water Moon’s DNA.

The artificial warrior potion could basically incorporate any DNA, including human and beast alike.

This had been researched by the former person in charge alone, because he wanted reincarnated two-dimensional girls to retain their abilities.

Cloud Mystic merely followed the original potion formula and added White of the Water Moon’s DNA. Only after Purple had simulated the process through thousands of virtual experiments and succeeded did Cloud Mystic put it into use.

"White of the Water Moon, feminized; production complete," Purple’s voice rang out. Eight nutrient pods opened, and eight girls awakened.

Through the nutrient pods, the eight girls had already learned enough knowledge: human common sense, more than a decade of education, personality formation, as well as combat skills and physical arts.

The eight girls looked exactly like White of the Water Moon. Through full humanization, they were one hundred percent compatible. The difference was that they were girls, while the real White of the Water Moon was a boy.

"Master." The eight girls stepped out of the nutrient pods, knelt on one knee with calm expressions, and wore not a stitch of clothing.

"This is truly the most perfect humanization technique," Cloud Mystic said as he studied their faces closely. It was as though they had been carved from the same mold, bearing a striking resemblance to their animated originals.

Using the artificial warrior potion, Cloud Mystic dressed the eight of them and waited quietly for the changes.

To him, androids and humans were still somewhat different. At the very least, he had not yet developed that kind of feeling toward them.

"So this is Ice Release?" A girl beside Cloud Mystic formed a block of ice in her hand.

"Did it succeed?" Cloud Mystic let out a breath of relief.

In less than half an hour, all eight girls had mastered Ice Release.

They could form ice blocks as small as a palm; if the ice was shaped into blades, it would be enough to cleave through ordinary steel.

Combined with their physical combat skills, they were comparable to martial fighters. After some familiarization, they might even reach the level of warriors.

Cloud Mystic was rather vague about ranking systems, since every world had its own. However, because the fantasy world’s hierarchy was the broadest, he chose that world’s ranking system as his standard.

"Put on your gear, take your weapons, and prepare to move out." The weapons Cloud Mystic gave them were long blades made from scrap metal left in the laboratory.

The gear only protected their hands and feet. They themselves had no risk of infection, because they were all ability users.

Cloud Mystic had only learned yesterday that the reason ability users could not be infected was because they devoured crystal cores. So that very night, he had placed crystal cores into the eight girls’ nutrient pods.

...

The battle time had begun. Cloud Mystic and the ten of them set out, and this time Snow was brought along as well.

They arrived at the virtual headset internet cafe near the square. Along the way, the eight girls had also adapted to combat. Snow White and Ice Snow fought in the simplest manner possible; even against a mutated beast, it was a single fatal strike.

"Form up, rest, and eat breakfast. Ice Snow and White One, stand watch." After glancing at the cleaned-up corpses of the zombies, Cloud Mystic sat down on the sofa.

"Understood." Ice Snow and White One took their sniper rifles to the window.

White One was the first android to master Ice Release. She had the best academic performance in the nutrient pod, though she was not especially skilled in close combat. Her specialty was long-range weapons like sniper rifles.

Even though they all looked identical, these androids had innate differences. Some had excellent bodies, while others were slightly inferior.

The other eight took canned food out of the backpacks on their backs and opened it to eat. Food was also one source of nourishment for them.

After eating, they tidied the internet cafe. Cloud Mystic had brought a full ten thousand cans, filling five hundred crates.

"Now we just wait for the gold to arrive." Bored, Cloud Mystic started watching anime.

The seven White of the Water Moon girls were speaking quietly among themselves. Their personalities had been set uniformly: to protect Cloud Mystic at the cost of their lives if necessary.

They were discussing combat tactics and how to kill zombies and mutated beasts more efficiently.

In the end, they reached the same conclusion: let Snow White and Ice Snow teach them.

...

"They’re here," Ice Snow said.

"Snow White, come with me. Ice Snow, White One, stay on communication watch." Cloud Mystic pointed to the wireless earpieces on both of them.

"Understood." Ice Snow and White One activated their wireless earpieces, connecting through the basic smart device on Cloud Mystic’s person.

Cloud Mystic and Snow White went downstairs and walked toward Ye Mountain and Moonlight’s team.

"You arrived earlier than expected. Here is the gold," Moonlight said as he patted the truck.

On the truck sat fifty crates. Three hundred thousand gold coins weighed more than three tons. Moonlight and the others had driven over in four vehicles, which meant this truck was being given to Cloud Mystic.

"The goods have already been sorted out. They’re in the internet cafe. You can come with me to inspect them first, while Snow White stays here," Cloud Mystic said coolly.

"No problem." Moonlight smiled and followed Cloud Mystic into the internet cafe.

As soon as he entered, Moonlight saw eight people in black robes and masks in the room, while two others stood at the window with sniper rifles. A chill ran down his spine.

"These are only for clearing mutated beasts and zombies on the road. We won’t make a move against you, because we are merchants," Cloud Mystic reminded him.

"Such formidable merchants," Moonlight said with a bitter smile. He took out his phone and scanned the cans.

"Confirmed: three hundred thousand cans, no issues." The phone issued a voice. This was the scanning function of the basic smart device, specially used for cargo inspection.

"The quantity of cans is correct. As long as the quality is fine, we can continue cooperating next time," Moonlight said with a smile.

"Pleasant cooperation. A bottle of red wine and ten cartons of cigarettes are included as a gift," Cloud Mystic said, taking out a small box and opening it. The wine and cigarettes were both pure white in appearance; as for labels and the like, Cloud Mystic had long since erased them.

"Thank you." Moonlight said excitedly.

The value of cigarettes and alcohol could be extremely high. A single carton of cigarettes could, at its peak, fetch as much as one hundred gold coins, while a bottle of red wine could reach three hundred and fifty.

"Stand down. The internet cafe has been cleared. We’ll be leaving first, and you can take your time moving the goods," Cloud Mystic said with a snap of his fingers. The nine of them walked out of the internet cafe.

"Very good." Moonlight followed them out the door.

Cloud Mystic’s side drove away in the truck loaded with gold coins. Cloud Mystic had only glanced at it just now, and the virtual screen had already displayed the number.

Sitting in the truck, Cloud Mystic opened the crates and collected all the gold coins.

"Exchange," he murmured.

The three hundred thousand gold coins vanished. Since they were recognized currency, there was no need to turn them into cash before exchanging them.

"Thirty thousand exchange points? Ten gold coins for one exchange point," Cloud Mystic said as he looked at the resulting points.

Looking toward the internet cafe, he saw the truck stop and begin loading up; the speed was extremely fast.

Not far away, wolf-like mutated beasts began clearing the route. Cloud Mystic and the others followed behind them and entered an underground parking garage.

Cloud Mystic put away the truck, and the ten of them began clearing the zombies in the garage.

"Congratulations, Host, for reaching level 10. You have earned a level 10 gift pack," chimed the clear voice of the cat-eared girl, Meow Meow, by his ear.

"Open it," Cloud Mystic said, feeling the fatigue in his body vanish as his strength increased once more.

(P.S.: Silver-rank summoning card. This time, a powerful permanent character will appear, but there will not be a sudden surge in strength. A character with two characters in the name. Hint: an anime character whose name consists of two identical characters.)